


Shinobi Code to Life

by Livewire



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-14 14:12:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1269406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livewire/pseuds/Livewire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The code was something they were taught to live by.  Ingrained into everything they did from an early age.  But they were shinobi.  Shinobi don’t follow rules.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Duty

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first installment of a very long and extensive world that I and a co-writer have been crating since we first got into the series of Naruto. Needless to say that was close to twelve years ago now. We decided it would be cool to clean it all up and organize it in such a way that others could enjoy as well. It will take us time but we are dedicated to finishing it. 
> 
> Note that since we started this project so long ago, there are a lot of points and characters that will alter from the main show as those had not been revealed by the time we wrote them. I've gone back and tried to correct these but a few became integral parts of our version of the world and thus could not be replaced. If I feel the change is important enough to mention I will give some background on it after the chapter in which they appear.
> 
> With that said, sit back and enjoy.

_“Assassinations are not the same as a kill. Don’t try to find reason or justice in them. Just finish and move on. If you must think of something, think of the code, the village, your duty.”_

The voice carried on in his head, repeating itself as he slowly drew the kunai from its holster. It wasn't the first time he had been assigned this kind of work. But it was the first that so wrongly disagreed with his conscience. 

_“Always focus on the quickest and cleanest way to take out the target. Mold to the situation. Forget using one weapon over another just because you like it more. Match the weapon to the target.”_

Focusing on controlling his breathing, he loomed over the small bundle curled under the bed sheet next to the already cooling body of his first victim. That one had been easier, done with practiced ease. His tanto still sat on the floor needing to be cleaned before the blood dried against the steel. Normally he'd use the same weapon for all targets before cleaning and leaving, but it just didn't seem right to use such a large weapon against a harmless…No. He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind and reached down cautiously. Holding his breath, he gently gripped the edge of the sheets and pulled them down to reveal the child still deep in dreamland completely innocent of the events going on in the real world. Hopefully they were good dreams. Before he could have any second thoughts, he covered the mouth gently and let the kunai do its job, closing his ears to the sudden reflexive gasp and whine against his hand. He shut his eyes and waited, counting the seconds long past the body going limp.

_“Once the deed is done, never forget to check and recheck for signs of life. The worst mistake to ever make on this type of mission is to leave without verification just to have the target still living and the record saying otherwise.”_

After what seemed nearly too long, he opened his eyes and pulled his hands back, sealing his emotions away to check for vital signs. Luckily there had been no muscle convulsions with this one. He hated it when those happened. But it also meant he had to check more thoroughly for any signs of life. He had heard the horror stories of assassinations gone wrong, where a rookie didn't check properly and the target came back from the brink of death. Even though he hated being there with the overbearing smell of blood and body fluid, he had devised extra measures to make sure those horror stories were never one of his own. Time was one of those measures he reminded himself as he watched patiently.

_“After all is finished, cover your tracks. Leave nothing behind.”_

Satisfied with all signs pointing to a complete kill, he crouched down and used the sheets to wipe what blood he could off of his clawed gloves before taking it and laying it over the bodies. Just because he stayed a little didn't mean he had to look at them. Crouching down again, he pulled out a cloth from one of the packs on his hip and went about cleaning the kunai and tanto before re-sheathing them. Tonight had been lucky. Uninterrupted and able to take his time meant he could make the kill as clean as possible. Looking back over at the sheets he could see a fold had dipped down enough to touch the sliced neck and start soaking up the blood. His stomach turned at the thought of what lay underneath. It was time to go.

_“....Never look back.”_

Taking one quick glance around to make sure no evidence was left behind, he let the empty grin of his dog mask slide back over his face and slipped out the sliding door leaving it open for the ghosts to escape into the moonlit night.


	2. Mission

The sun filtered down along the dirt path that lead to and from the village’s west gate, light glittering off the sharp edges of the kunai as it flipped through the air only to be caught for the thousandth time that afternoon. The hours were dragging slowly on at a near unbearable pace and the usually lazy Genma was bored out of his mind. At first he had spent the time cloud watching as the large puffy white masses floated by. But that had only worked for the better half of an hour. Humming, cleaning weapons, thinking, and even telling jokes to Raidou who sat next to him had lost its luster fairly early on. Now it was a quarter past two in the afternoon and they still had another five hours left till their replacement shift came to alleviate his torment.

Wall guard duty was the most boring thing he’d ever experienced.

Sighing, Genma leaned back in his chair and looked over at Ridou in hopes of any kind of entertainment. He frowned finding the older Jounin still diligently scribbling on scrolls and reorganizing the stack of papers in front of him. “Are you seriously going to be doing that the whole time?” The senbon in his mouth twitched with irritation.

Raidou didn't even bother giving a glance having already gone through this conversation with his friend the last time they had been given gate duty. “If you’re so bored you could help me complete these reports.”

“Pass.” Genma chided and crossed his arms behind his head while looking back up at the clouds again shifting the senbon to the other side of his mouth. 

More time passed in silence when Raidou was suddenly startled by the sound of a kunai whizzing past his head. All thoughts of reports were gone as he grabbed his own kunai and stood looking around for the perpetrator. “Genma, get down!”

He didn't even have to give the order as Genma had already fallen out of his chair to the ground laughing hysterically. “Yo…you should have seen your face!” He gasped out while clutching his sides.

It took a moment of confusion for Raidou to finally place what was going on. Had he seriously thrown a kunai at him? That was low, even by Genma standards. Not pausing to argue the point, he grabbed the stray kunai still embedded in the wooden sidewall of the gate house and tossed it back at his partner.

Genma easily shifted his head and grinned up at Raidou as it landed mere centimeters from his ear. “Testy testy.” He chided. “It was only a joke.”

“A poor one.” Raidou snorted lightly before kicking Genma’s leg out of the way and setting his chair upright to sit down again.

Genma just laid there for a bit enjoying the light breeze and new view. Cocking an eyebrow over at Raidou who had gone back to working on the scroll again, he couldn't help but smirk. “You know, from this position, someone passing by might get the idea that you and I might be doing something more than just work.” He leered up at Raidou and wiggled a brow.

Raidou blinked down at him as his brain paused at the sheer randomness Genma’s mind was bouncing around in. “What?”

“You know.” Genma sat up and leaned forward, gripping his senbon with deft fingers to start licking at it suggestively.

Realization dawned on Raidou of what he meant and quickly scooted away. “Don’t you dare get near me with that in your mouth.”

“Oh come on, I know what I’m doing. I've had tons of practice. Think of it as a new experience.” His grin broadened as he leaned even closer reaching out to stop Raidou from escaping.

“Genma! We’re on duty right now!” Raidou hissed trying to peel the grabby hands away.

“And I’m bored!” Genma pouted trying to convince him. “It’s not like anyone’s going to se-“ He was cut off at the feel of someone approaching the gate and had to mentally curse his luck. Though this was a chance of other entertainment. Shifting around, he knelt behind the counter with his chin resting on his folded arms across the wood. His sharp eyes picked up the form of a person slowly getting closer. He soon bunched his eyebrows in confusion as he finally worked out who or rather what was coming their way.

Raidou picked up on the mood change quickly and also took interest as the person drew close enough for them to get a good look. It was an anbu, by the looks of it younger than them, slowly limping down the dirt path.

“Anbu-san?” Genma called out in curiosity and concern. It wasn't every day anbu walked through the gate like a normal shinobi, nor limped through one either. And in broad daylight too. Did they need some medical help?

The anbu, for good measure, didn't give any indication of paying attention to them as he continued walking past. All gear looking in good order for returning from an obvious mission. Probably assassination from the looks of it, Raidou ventured to guess. Usually those were the few solo missions.

Genma frowned as recognition hit home. He thought he’d seen that mask before. “Oi. You don’t look too good. You should check in at the hospital.” Still no response. With a shrug he settled back on the ground next to Raidou and sighed. He was bored again.

Raidou continued to watch the anbu for a little while longer before quickly flipping to a different scroll and jotted down a note in code to remember to inform the Hokage about the incident later. Returning back to his previous works he jumped in mid sentence at the sharp prick of something against his leg, causing the pen to scrawl across the page. “Genma!” He looked down to find innocent eyes looking back up at him from between his legs. Well as innocent as a cat looking at a baby bird.

“What? I didn't do anything.” Genma smiled and twitch the senbon playfully.

Raidou sighed in frustration just knowing the rest of the day was going to be this way. “Just back off. I’m trying to finish these.”

“We've still got four hours thirty two minutes and seventeen seconds. Do the rest of the paperwork later.” Genma pouted before deciding to not let Raidou have a chance to argue back and pounced on the chair knocking it and his pray over.

Kakashi continued to limp along the dusty road ignoring the crash and string of curses coming from the gatehouse.

\---------

Yamanaka Inoichi sighed and leaned back in his chair rubbing his forehead in hope of alleviating the headache threatening to come and play. The long hours he’d been holding fast to combined with little sleep were starting to catch up to him. No one person was capable of taking on the responsibilities of five jobs, but here he was because he literally was the only one left capable of said jobs. Sighing again, he looked down at the scroll he’d been studying intensely for the past four hours trying to make hide or tail of the seemingly unintelligent scribbling. How the hell Tori-san made encryptions seem so easy to read was beyond him. The man had been a genius in his field. Yet another hole to fill with under trained chuunin, if the intelligence department could only be so lucky. Least anbu wasn't faring as poorly, even if their commander was indisposed till further notice. He let out a sign in worry over his long-time friend.

About to refocus his mind back on the puzzling documents, he was gratefully held up longer by a soft knock on the office door. Silently the tall man stood up and walked over towards the sound. He took a moment to push the cabinet sitting in front of the door to the side and moved out of the way allowing the burnt hunk of wood to fall at his feet. “Inu-san…I wasn't expecting you for another day.” He nodded at the young Anbu.

Kakashi didn't hesitate at the obvious invitation, stepping right onto the door and into the office to stand at attention near the desk being careful not to touch it as it looked like the temporary repair tags would fall off any moment. Inoichi couldn't help but notice the curious look the anbu gave over his shoulder. Mask on or not, he knew the kid well enough and couldn't help the smirk as the boy finally spoke up. “You ever going to get this place fixed?” He asked softly, the weariness of his travels evident in the voice.

“When I’m no longer running off of two hours of sleep every night, yes. It’ll be fixed before the commander returns if that is what you are worried about.” Inoichi answered nonchalantly as he lifted the remains of the door in place and moved the filing cabinet back in front to hold it up. He only turned to his guest again once the silencing seal was reactivated to keep unwanted ears out. “I take it was a success?” A small nod from the grinning mask greeted him in answer while he moved back around his desk and sat in his chair. Pausing in the silence that followed he looked up to assess the dog staring back at him. 

A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth as he studied the small frame under the tight armor. No matter how hard one might try to hide, his well trained eyes from over the years working in this field were able to easily pick up the signs. What was he, fourteen now? He understood the need for help and full heartedly agreed with the newly reinstated Sandaime that getting everyone back to a sense of normalcy and keeping their minds occupied constantly was a good way to work off the stress. But these plans were obviously working in reverse on the boy before him, signs of an imminent breakdown in the workings. What had Minato been thinking putting the kid in this field so young? As a recent father, he couldn't dream of putting his daughter no matter how talented into the black ops so soon. That sounded like something that Danzo-san always pushed for.

He rubbed at his forehead again, trying desperately to keep the headache at bay long enough for him to solve this mess they had all landed him with. What the hell was he supposed to do with a broken kid? Usually he gave operatives under mental stress a day or two off to recollect their thoughts and visit loved ones to remind them what they fought for. What was he going to do with a kid who lost everything? He wasn't even sure if the young Hatake was even aware of what it was he was missing. Even though he had never had the opportunity to work alongside him personally on a team, Chouzo had given him all the details when it was made clear he would be taking over anbu operations till further notice. Apparently his old friend and teammate had ample opportunities working with the kid back when he was assigned missions with Minato. 

As the time passed slowly, the anbu started to fidget under his intense stare. “ano, Yamanaka-san, should I report in another time?”

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he signed. “Sorry, been one of those days. I want a full report on my desk tomorrow. For now go get yourself medically treated. And I don’t want to hear you say ‘I’m fine’. I saw that limp. Get it checked even if it is just a leg cramp.” He cut the kid off before the pending comeback could get out. Then came the hard part. The kid needed a new mission. It was customary, especially in these pressing times, to have the next assignment ready to go before the operative even returned from the last assignment. For Inoichi, he’d worked even harder in organizing the missions specifically for each operative well in advance, keeping tabs on stress levels of said missions and sleep allocations. He wanted to make sure each shinobi was well rested between each mission to keep sharp while still getting everything completed. Of course there was a serious difference in number of missions giving to the anbu units with there being way more dangerous s-ranked missions then the more relaxing information gathering A-ranked, if one could even call those relaxing. He had planned on giving the young anbu another assassination mission that had come in since that last one should have been easier being centered on civilians rather than ninja, but with the recent turn of events he felt that would be a bad idea. Having an operative break on the field was a sure death sentence, no matter how skilled.

Then it hit him. Quickly he leaned forward and shuffled papers around till he found a slightly crumpled scroll. “I have another mission for you.” He said as he opened the scroll to quickly skim it and make sure it was the right one he remembered. Truth be told, it wasn't a usual mission given to the anbu ranks, but Sandaime had personally written out the request under the pressure of the elders, complaining shinobi, and civilians alike. “This is to be handled with a delicate touch.” He glanced up to make sure the kid was still standing and paying attention. “It’s a covert intelligence gathering mission. You’re not to engage the target, just observe, unless necessary.” Rolling the scroll back up, he handed it to the outstretched clawed hand. “I want a debriefing at the end of the week on what you find. Nothing written. All the details are in there. You know the drill. Destroy the scroll after you've read it.”

Silently Kakashi unrolled the scroll and glanced over its brief description recognizing the handwriting being from the Sandaime himself. Included was a bio sheet of an academy student. Glancing at the attached photo he didn't need to even use the sharingan to burn that grinning face into his memory. It had already been branded there a year ago. Spying on a kid wasn't something anbu were needed for and he almost took offence at being the one assigned to the mandatory task. But he held his complaints in and gave a short nod of acceptance after rolling the scroll up and setting it on fire. “It gave no end date. Am I to assume the week is the allotted time?”

“No. The mission is ongoing till said otherwise from Sandaime himself. I just want an update each week. If I am unavailable then the briefings are to go to the Hokage himself.” 

Silently the anbu bowed in acceptance swallowing his pride at the extended unofficial vacation he was being forced on before turning to leave to make his way home and crash for the rest of the day and night, blatantly ignoring the ordered medical checkup. If he was going to have time off, then it wasn’t needed.

\---------

Whoever thought this mission was going to be easy was seriously misinformed. Officially the mission had started after his early dawn breakfast of a slice of toast. He had taken his time getting dressed having trouble finding his older civilian clothes he use to wear during his jounin days and then having to modify them to hide the fact that they were a little small for him now. Recently he had no need for anything but his uniforms. But with a sensitive mission of information gathering on the home front he assumed taking on the role of off duty would seem more natural. There wasn't even any telling his target remembered him. 

Looking out the lone window he could see the sun just starting to breach the tops of the trees off in the distance. Tying his hitai-ate over his forehead, he set out for the day. He had assumed his target would still be asleep at this early hour and made his way over to the address that had been mentioned in the mission report to set up surveillance. Apparently the target was a believer in the early bird gets the worm. The apartment before him had gone cold of life hours ago.

Glaring through the window at the empty room within, he hung there upside down from the roof overhang rethinking his strategy. Where would an academy student go so early in the morning? It was a Sunday so school shouldn't be in session. He tried to think back on what little he remembered of the kid. Those days, that life seems like forever ago. Maybe the training grounds?

Deciding on his next course of action he made to jump back up on the roof only to find he couldn't move his foot from its current placement. Glancing up at them he found his left sandal had been very tactfully attached to a cement-seal tag. Where the hell had that come from? Using his right he channeled more chakra to it and pushed on the boards to try and detach his left shoe. Wood splintered and paint peeled back from the force to reveal another cement-seal tag hidden underneath that now activated with his chakra. Now both shoes were sealed to the wood. Well that at least explained where the tag had come from. It was obvious he was going to have to gather his own information on the kid. The data he had been given didn't mention anything about some crafty demon spawn of a trap master. When had he learned this?

Thirty minutes later found a young brooding Hatake stalking away barefoot, half singed cloths and hands shoved deep in pockets to hide the purple dye splotching them, down the dirt road leaving a very noticeable burn patch where his favorite worn in pair of sandals had been cemented. Someone was going to pay severely if this day got any worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I should mention there are some other relationships but many are minor so I figured they weren't needed to be mentioned in the story bio. They're teens so it's common to have fleeting relationships. Some will continue to build, others will dissipate into friendships.
> 
> cement-seal tag: This is what we started calling tags used to hold structures together. Usually used as a temporary solution to hold things together till they can be more properly fixed. If you've noticed around the village there are often tags placed across cracks or holes along walls and poles.


End file.
